I discovered Ganesh Vapes during my short time as a budtender. I sold a few of the Silver Lamp Kits and their sleek design, packaging, and logo always caught my attention. The Hindu god Ganesha is worshipped as the remover of obstacles, a god of arts and sciences and the representative of intellect and wisdom, a fitting mascot for a cannabis vaporizer technology company.

Since I was a child, you’d always catch me with a Gameboy or Walkman close by. I spent a lot of time in a truck with my grandpa and those long hours got me hooked on portable gadgets. As I grew older, walkmans and Gameboys turned to iPods and the Nintendo DS. As iPods turned to smartphones and cannabis became part of my life, portable vaporizers were something I quickly became interested in.

I’ve been experimenting with vape pens for around three years. I love gadgets, so I’m quick to jump on bandwagons that involve handheld devices. The first two devices I owned didn’t live up to the hype. The batteries were subpar, the atomizers burnt out fast and weren’t easy to replace.

When thinking about trying a new vape pen, Ganesh Vapes brand has always come to mind since my time as a budtender.

Silver Lamp Kit Unboxing

The Silver Lamp’s packaging is a black rectangle box with copper-orange trim on the logo and font. Pulling off the lid revealed a shiny gold vape pen battery and concentrate chamber. Beneath the battery is a slick white and blue carrying case with numerous accessories inside: an extra coil, dab tool, slick-em jar, and a vape cartridge adapter. The Silver Lamp G-go battery is 650 mah and has a lifetime warranty. The battery has 510 threading count and most vape cartridges screw into the battery.

Silver Lamp Function

The vape pen has normal functionality. Five quick clicks turn it on and off. If you’re using a vape cartridge, screw on the adapter and your 510 thread cartridge will screw right on. If you’re loading your own concentrates, screw on the Ganesh chamber and slide off the cap. Use your dab tool and place a small glob directly on the coil and replace the cap. Don’t fill up the entire chamber as this will cause a mess and burn your coil out quicker.

Hold the button while inhaling to hit it. There’s an LED light to indicate when the battery is heating up. It lights up when it’s charging and the light turns off when it’s done charging. The instruction manual issues a warning, don’t leave the device plugged in after it’s done charging. This will keep your battery healthy.

The Silver Lamp kit has a cool feature that I’ve never seen on any other device, it’s called “session mode.” While the device is on, click the button twice rapidly and the battery will stay activated for 15 seconds, keeping the battery warm and giving everyone in the circle a solid hit. Pressing the button once again in session mode will turn the battery off. As long as the battery is on, a vibrant green Ganesh logo lights up.

Travel Use

Traveling with the Silver Lamp Kit in my bag has saved the day more than once in the two weeks that I’ve owned it. Sitting at my local Starbucks for hours on end, editing blogs and writing my own content can wear on my mental fortitude. Grabbing my Silver Lamp and stepping outside for a few minutes increased production in the waning hours of the day’s motivation.

This device really saved my life when I was stuck on Snoqualmie Pass for several hours due to driver errors and poor weather conditions. In other words, people drive like assholes through sunshine and blizzards. Traffic stopped and people were meandering through the traffic visiting with each other, others started walking towards the front of the traffic jam to investigate. I decided to pull out my Silver Lamp, some GreenRush Tsi Fly sugar resin, my notebook, and went to work. One hour quickly turned to three and people will hurrying back to their vehicles, and traffic slowly came back to life. I filled several notebook pages with story ideas and planners.

This is where I felt I got my Silver Lamp Kit money’s worth. After being stuck on the pass, I decided this thing is a travel necessity, you never know what’s going to happen or when you’re going to be stuck somewhere for a few hours with nothing to do, but occupy yourself with some pen and paper.

At Home Use

Let’s just get this out of the way. No vape pen will ever replace a dab rig or electronic nail as your complete home concentrate smoking experience. No pen will give you the brain ringing dabs that a perfectly timed quartz banger or an electronic nail at the perfect temperature does.

That being said, I did find a few solid uses for this device at home, namely while I was playing video games. I enjoyed just loading my chamber and taking rips in between Destiny 2 crucible matches. This also prevented bong bubbles and hissing of a butane torch from annoying the people in my party chat. Even when the chamber ran out, it was still faster to throw a dab into the chamber than it would to take a dab or smoke a bowl.

Ganesh Vapes Silver Lamp Kit makes a great gaming and binging companion while you’re glued to your couch. Other than that, I’d stick to your dab rig while you’re home.

Final Thoughts and Concentrate Recommendations

Long story short, I’m a fan of this device. I love the way it looks. From the Gotti gold casing that makes me feel like a proper James Bond villain, to the carrying case, and its accessories. The Silver Lamp delivers quality hits, especially with a full chamber full of dabs or a full vape cartridge. I got 3-5 hours of constant use from a full charge. If you’re looking for a vape pen, there are much worse options than Ganesh Vapes Silver Lamp Kit. You can pick one up with a lifetime warranty for $69.99 on their website. The Silver Lamp kit should be a must-have for any traveling terpene connoisseur.

I think these types of concentrates are best to avoid a sticky mess on your dab tool while loading your chamber. This way you don’t get your entire travel kit sticky. As a rule of thumb avoid terp sauces or greasy sugar resins. You want things that are closer to crumble or shatter. Anything you can grab directly with your fingers will be the best.

THCA Crystals (Wizard Stones)

Tsi Fly Sugar Resin

Mt. Rainier Crystal

10 Pound Baby Shatter

Pineapple Kush Shatter

GreenRush Cannabis is a WA i502 producer-processor located in the scenic Snohomish Valley. We produce a clean, sophisticated crop that has become a preferred brand for a number of top shops in Washington state known for our consistent terpene flavor, high quality, and deep impact.

I was pleasantly pleased with CannaCon that the terpene conversation will continue, grow, and evolve the consumer-terpene relationship. True Terpenes had an information booth and a seminar lead by Ben Cassiday. Cassiday mentioned True Terpenes is currently working open-sourced research to help educate consumers. There were several other seminars discussing terpenes from both scientific and consumer standpoints.

Terpenes are found in the essential oils of all plants. The aromas released by terpenes give fruit and plants their signature smells. Many people who enjoy cannabis have a strong connection to the smell of a specific strain, like Dutch Treat for example. A chemical reaction occurs between your body and terpenes as soon as you smell a strain. This is the reason aromatherapy is an effective method to relieve stress and anxiety or why mentholatum relieves inflammation in your chest and helps you breathe through a chest cold.

Terps is a slang term thrown around in head shops and cannabis retailers all the time in reference to terpenes. Terps or terpy is a term often associated with vibrant aromatics and flavors in cannabis flower and concentrates. While it may sound like generic stoner slang, terpy is somewhat of an accurate term to describe a strain that has a pungent smell because it’s slang for terpenes. Terpene education is quickly gaining momentum in the industry.

The cannabis industry is barely scratching the surface of terpene research and how they interact with cannabinoids. The truth is there hasn’t been enough research done to say with certainty what each terpene does. It’s easy to isolate a terpene, see what it smells like and match those aromas to cannabis strains. Myrcene and limonene release vibrant lime and citrus aromas found in Tangie phenotypes while terpinolene is the hazy pine smell associated with Haze and Dutch phenotypes. It’s something entirely different to guarantee a specific terpene has designated effects. It’s important to note that a lot of the terpene information is somewhat anecdotal.

Virginia Hoyer touched on this during her talk at CannaCon 2018. Hoyer is a natural product chemist and herbalist. She’s worked at Analytical 360 and Laboratory Manager at PhytaLab, laboratories providing quality assurance testing for compliance with Washington’s recreational cannabis regulations. She says many cannabis blogs promote misinformation about terpenes and just issued caution when sourcing terpene information.

Hoyer brought up slides breaking down the attributes of seven common terpenes that she could find research corroborating their effects: beta-caryophyllene, humulene, limonene, linalool, myrcene, alpha-pinene, and terpinolene. All the while, passing around samples of isolated terpenes. This allowed the audience to smell individual terpenes to get a better sense of what you’re actually smelling when you smell “loud” cannabis. The biggest realization I had during this exercise was when the terpinolene sample came around. I’ve always struggled to explain the distinct aroma that is associated with Dutch Treat and Haze phenotypes. A pungent hazy aroma is the best I could come up with, but it’s actually the terpene called terpinolene that creates that distinct “hazy” aroma found in strains Dutch Treat and Durban Poison.

Ethan B Russo is a cannabis researcher who published a paper on this very topic in the British Journal of Pharmacology. In the paper, Russo breaks down the commonly found terpenes listed above and talks about the role terpenes play in the entourage effect. Russo’s name came up multiple times during CannaCon seminars I attended, he’s respected in the space and his research on cannabis backs up a lot of the anecdotal evidence about terpenes.

The industry is still catching on and basic cannabis users know even less about terpenes. In general, few cannabis cultivators invest in terpene information on their packaging. Cannabis concentrate producers have made more of an effort to educate consumers about their product’s terpene profiles, but in general, it’s still a limited method of dispersing education. It’s limited because it’s dependent on budtenders going out of their way to teach customers about terpenes and teach them the right thing or curious customers researching terpene effects and cannabinoids on their own volition.

Solutions for increasing the effectiveness of consumer-based terpene education still need to be thought up, but it’s good to know the industry is pushing the wave towards unlocking the secrets of terpene and cannabinoid knowledge

Terpy GreenRush Products

GreenRush Cannabis is a WA i502 producer-processor located in the scenic Snohomish Valley. We produce a clean, sophisticated crop that has become a preferred brand for a number of top shops in Washington state known for our consistent terpene flavor, high quality, and deep impact.

CannaCon’s slogan is “where the cannabis industry does business.” I was blown away by the wide variety of businesses on the CannaCon Seattle 2018 convention floor. On top of a packed floor full of booths, there were three days of talks and seminars designed to further educate the industry in business, science, and industry standards. This year’s three keynote speakers were Gov. Jay Inslee, Former President Of Mexico Vicente Fox, and a renown geneticist from Nova Scotia, Canada, Sean Myles.

Governor Jay Inslee opened CannaCon 2018 with a speech met with cheers, whoops, and boisterous applause. Gov. Inslee ended CannaCon 2018 day one with a brief speech on the progress the cannabis industry has made in such a short time. The speech was brief, just over 10 minutes. As everyone was shuffling out of the conference room, people expressed disappointment with the lack of a Q&A, and some wanted his speech to be longer and more informative.

Gov. Jay Inslee addressed Washington entrepreneurism, cannabis traceability and Jeff Session’s failure to recognize our industries success. Gov. Inslee recognized the sacrifices Washington business owners have made during Washington’s I-502 experiment. The market has been around for about four years and there’s been trackable success. The cannabis industry has generated billions of dollars in revenue which now accounts for 2 percent of the state’s budget.

Inslee applauded policies that have kept “youthful consumption” of cannabis from rising since it was legalized. These policies have also kept legal cannabis out of the black market and other states. These examples lead Inslee to question Jeff Sessions’ unwillingness to meet with himself and Washington Attorney General (AG) Bob Ferguson to discuss legal cannabis and all of its benefits. They’ll continue reaching out to Sessions and other AG’s around the country in hopes of showing them benefits a regulated cannabis industry can bring.

“I’m disappointed the Attorney General wants to blind himself from the successful information we have.”

Inslee addressed the traceability nightmares that have plagued the state since the WSLCB contracted MJ Freeway to build a new traceability system, LeafData. LeafData has been plagued with system crashes and data breaches. Inslee confirmed that LeafData was hacked since its launch on Feb. 1. The purpose of the hack was to simply crash the system and make it inoperable, which can be more troubling than someone who just wants to steal information, Inslee said. The state is currently investigating the source of the hack and Inslee mentioned malicious or bored hackers and competing vendors as potential suspects. Inslee empathized with business owners who can’t complete orders and send or receive inventory.

“Jeff Sessions isn’t a suspect for now, ” Inslee joked.

Inslee finished with a promise to remain committed to fixing Washington’s traceability system and told anyone who is still having issues to call 888-420-5813 and report any and all problems as the state tries to repair the system. He also encouraged everyone in the room to befriend their district representatives to make them aware of how important these issues are in the community. The speech was brief, just over 10 minutes. As everyone was shuffling out of the conference room, people expressed disappointment with the lack of a Q&A, and some wanted his speech to be longer and more informative.

“Here’s a question I think we should ask. In just a few years, can we take a prohibited activity and turn it into a successful industry?”

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox opened day two of CannaCon with a passionate speech about the role cannabis has played in Mexico’s past, present, and future, America’s failed drug war, border security, cannabis trade potential, and the CannaMexico World Summit. CannaMexico will take place in May 2018 and is designed to lay the groundwork for Mexico’s recreational cannabis system, one Fox hopes will take many methods from Washington’s recreational market. Fox believes our industry and other state-regulated cannabis markets are the start of the paradigm shift to completely end cannabis prohibition. Our cannabis industry is creating jobs, funding our government, and regulating the quality of its products. All of these measures reduce crime, the black market and severely decrease murders linked to the black market sale of cannabis.

Cannabis prohibition started in the United States after the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 when Harry Anslinger demonized cannabis by spreading misinformation about its effects and linking it with a tribal fear of Mexican immigrants committing hyper-exaggerated crimes. Prohibition hit the peak of insanity when Nixon passed the Controlled Substance Act in 1970 and officially labeled Cannabis as a schedule I drug, insanity still being dealt with in the United States and on the streets of Mexico. Cannabis is still one of the largest income sources for the drug cartels, their grip on certain regions had made it dangerous for everyone including journalists. 60-80 kids are killed on the streets of Mexico every day, Fox said. 40 journalists have been killed in Mexico between 1992 and 2018, the Committee To Protect Journalists reports.

Washington’s cannabis industry is showing it can be regulated and taken out of the hands of criminals in a responsible manner. Fox hopes the CannaMexico World Summit will show Mexican politicians and citizens that the same thing is possible in their country. Another vital issue Fox brought up was border security and how it relates to trade. Fox envisions a future where the Amerian-Mexican border is just as safe and crime free as the Canadian-American border. A future where all of North American opens its borders and cannabis becomes just another imported and exported product. Fox referred to this potential future as “this united region of North America.”

Fox sees cannabis as a way to sure up his country’s future and lessens the economic disparity between them and the United States. Fox believes the steps taken on the state level in America will help usher in a new cannabis-friendly era on a nationwide level in Mexico, an era Fox hopes to start at the CannaMexico World Summit in May. Mexico has already legalized medical use of marijuana nationwide.

“After seeing your impressive exhibits, it’s clear to me a new world is born here,” Fox said.

On the final day, geneticist Sean Myles explained how his research reveals that cannabis strain names don’t reflect their true genetic profiles and that indica, sativa, and hybrid classifications are basically meaningless. I focused my time on the science seminars, specifically terpene knowledge. I learned a fair amount of new knowledge. It’s good to know that portion of the industry is focused on unlocking the secrets of terpenes and how they interact with our cannabis experience outside of smell and taste.

Sean Myles focuses on genetics in food, but his work in cannabis is turning heads in the industry and affirming rumors held by many people.

The CannaCon Seattle 2018 floor was filled with hundreds of vendors. Producers, processors, retailers, and users could all find something to pique their interest. The floor was covered with bowls of free candy in every variety you could think of, plus there was free merchandise, stuff for sale, grab bags, raffles, artwork, and displays. It was a celebration of the cannabis industry and all its many facets.

I was blown away at the level of industrial technology that is entering the cannabis space, especially on the producer/processor side of the industry. The floor was filled with automated conveyor belts, labelers, sticker machines, cartridge filling machines and many other automated devices designed to improve speed and efficiency during cannabis production. Some other services I saw included graphic designers, brand consultants, cannabis publications, analytics labs, data, and technology companies, surveillance companies, safe-makers, nutrient companies, and many others.

Cannabis concentrates still make up a small space in overall cannabis sales, but it’s clear how popular concentrates are becoming. The amount of extraction technology was almost overwhelmingly present on the floor. Extraction companies had the newest extraction tanks and setups, the latest rosin presses, purge ovens, scientific glassware of all shapes and sizes, and other highly scientific materials designed to make concentrates.

Cannabis users and budtenders were able to find just as many booths aimed at increasing their cannabis product knowledge. Brands like Mammoth Labs and Bodhi High had people at their booth spitting knowledge about how their concentrates are made. The booth that I learned the most from was True Terpenes, who create food grade organic terpenes. At their booth, there were terpenes being dispersed through humidifiers, giving you a concentrated aroma profile for six of the most common terpenes. Finally putting names to certain cannabis aromas is such a huge step for my strain reviews. That “lime candy” smell I love from the Banana Split strain is limonene. That distinct haziness you get from the Dutch strains? Terpinolene. That overwhelming pine-needle smell comes from Alpha-Pinene. I took home a personal terpene kit to help identify prominent terpenes in my strain reviews to further educate my readers.

You could feel the love and enthusiasm for cannabis throughout the entire conference. Whether it was in the Mammoth Labs VIP lounge sipping free coffee or lemonade while eavesdropping on everyone discussing their favorite booths. In the seminars watching focused attendees take notes and ask questions, or on the floor watching wide-eyed on-lookers admire the technological upswing the industry has undergone.

Every CannaCon seminar I attended taught me something new. Besides Inslee and Fox, I focused on seminars dealing with terpenes and genetics. People within the industry have been whispering about misleading strain names and lack of terpene knowledge for a while now, and many of these suspicions were confirmed by science and research this past weekend. I’m personally excited that terpene research is increasing because cannabis effects are determined by so much more than a simple indica, hybrid, and sativa designation and THC test results. Learning how cannabinoids and terpenes interact through the entourage effect will completely change how cannabis is bought and sold at the retail level.

Before CannaCon Seattle 2018, I truly didn’t grasp how all-encompassing the cannabis industry has become in such a short amount of time. I felt a sense of pride walking around with my camera and media badge around my neck, knowing I’m a small part of it all. The industry isn’t perfect and will encounter more complications, but there’s so much to be proud about. I walked away from CannaCon Seattle 2018 with a better understanding of how many moving parts the cannabis industry has and how hard everyone is working behind the scenes to keep them moving smoothly.

Before CannaCon Seattle, I had a strange fear that the proverbial rug was going to be pulled out from underneath me. I didn’t really understand how cannabis journalism was paying my bills and it felt like the checks would stop at any time.

After CannaCon Seattle, I feel the rug firmly beneath my feet and that it isn’t going anywhere. To see how cannabis is touching people from all walks of life and businesses from all facets of science, agriculture, retail, finance, and business motivated me to put even more work into my craft. I need to make sure I’m pulling as much weight as the hardworking people I met at CannaConSeattle 2018.

GreenRush Cannabis is a WA i502 producer-processor located in the scenic Snohomish Valley. We produce a clean, sophisticated crop that has become a preferred brand for a number of top shops in Washington state known for our consistent terpene flavor, high quality, and deep impact.

Dan Sloy started Dabb’n Dan’s i502 Solutions about six months after recreational sales began in 2014. His official title is an I-502 broker and consultant. Sloy facilitates relationships between producers, processors, and retailers. He helps connect buyers and sellers, acting as the broker and delivery driver. Before large quantities are purchased, Sloy brings samples to the buyers, which are tested in a lab for pesticides and other contaminants. Then they’re tested personally, if everyone is happy with the final product and prices, the deal is made. The seller pays Sloy’s commission. All of “The Dab Man’s” services are free for buyers.

The benefit of Sloy’s service is the time he saves producers, processors, and retailers. While Sloy handles all of the logistics for getting product from Processor A to Retailer B or Producer A to Processor B, etc. This leaves them more time to run the shops, grow the weed, blast the oil, etc. Sloy’s job is to deliver the paint to the artists, so the artists are free to create masterpieces. On top of business negotiations, handling logistics for meetings, pick-ups, drop-offs, and deliveries, Sloy has to manage all of the different personalities he comes across.

The Cannabis industry, in particular, is full of varied personalities, some don’t mix well with each other. Sloy believes all three sides of the negotiation have to be cohesive for a successful partnership. Matching the right buyer with the right seller has as much to do with being friendly and respectful, as it does with product supply and demand. The Personality management is the most difficult part of the job, Sloy says. At the end of the day, anyone worth working with is in it for the same reason as him, for the love of cannabis. It keeps life in perspective when he gets frustrated and annoyed on the job, when he realizes his work day consists of making some phone calls, sitting in traffic, picking up some distillate, and getting high with a potential new client.

Sloy’s business has been built by word of mouth. He believes he has a good reputation because of his veteran status in the industry, as well as his honest business ethics. Sloy says he takes care of his people, and they take care of him.

“It’s a really small industry, so you can’t be a snake for too long,” Sloy says.

The first time Sloy harvested a dank crop of cannabis, he knew the plant was going to be a part of his life forever. Sloy had a great paying job managing a Discount Tire directly out of high school and was able to buy a house. He set up a home grow in a sunlight rambler, which is like a well-lit basement or a split-level house. Using a simple hydroponic set up with plastic tubs and PVC pipe, he produced over five-pounds.

Finding success that quickly launched Sloy into the cannabis world. He had his first opportunity to work in the industry full-time in Washington’s pre-I-502 medical industry. He started delivering and managing a medical dispensary until state voters passed I-502, at which point Sloy’s plan involved owning part of a retail shop with Have a Heart’s Ryan Kunkle. After the potential license fell through, Sloy had to go back to the drawing board.

One day, Sloy got a call from a friend looking to buy distillate for wholesale. Sloy made a few phone calls and connected him with another producer/processor who had the distillate. He was awarded 10 percent of the deal, which was a fair chunk of change. Sloy realized he’d been in the cannabis industry long enough to make more deals like that.

“The Dab Man” had arrived.

Find Dan The Dab Man

GreenRush Cannabis is a WA i502 producer-processor located in the scenic Snohomish Valley. We produce a clean, sophisticated crop that has become a preferred brand for a number of top shops in Washington state known for our consistent terpene flavor, high quality, and deep impact.

At the end of 2018, Colorado completed a complex investigation involving the Sweet Leaf cannabis retail chain for egregious “looping” violations. Looping is a term for what I described above, buying the legal limit of cannabis, taking it to your car, and returning to the store to buy more. The raid was carried out by state law-enforcement agents and resulted in 13 employee arrests, 10 of which were charged with either misdemeanor or felony distribution of cannabis, The Cannabist reports. During the investigation, the Denver Police Department conducted stings involving undercover officers posing as “loopers.” During the sting, budtenders, and door people were open about looping policies and gave loopers tips like parking outside of the buildings surveillance system. One undercover officer bought 6.6 ounces of cannabis during the same day and during a stake-out, officers witnessed an out of state customers purchase three-pounds of cannabis. After this customer was arrested, police soon discovered the customer planned to repackage and sell Sweet Leaf’s cannabis in a different state’s black market.

What Are The Limits?

Adults 21 and over can purchase up to one ounce of usable cannabis flower, 16 ounces of cannabis-infused edibles in solid form, 72 ounces of cannabis drinkables, and 7 grams of cannabis concentrates.

The cannabis possession limits for medical patients are different. They are also allowed to cultivate their own weed or issue other medical patients a caretaker license to grow weed for them.

Three ounces of usable cannabis flower, forty-eight ounces of cannabis-infused edibles in solid form, two hundred sixteen ounces of cannabis drinkables, and twenty-one grams of cannabis concentrates, per the Washington State Department of Health.

Why Washington Needs To Take Cannabis Possession Limits Seriously

These limits may seem arbitrary, but it doesn’t matter. They’re the law and they have to be followed. Budtenders and store owners need to adhere to them for several reasons. Cannabis prohibition is still alive and well in many places in this country. Contributing to that issue with Washington product makes our state look careless for contributing to the violence that is connected to illegal cannabis sales. It’s also extremely unfair to farmers and processors. They expect their products to be consumed in the state, not to be contributing to crime and potential violence is another state.

Ever since the state’s traceability system hasn’t been working properly, cannabis products have become even harder to track. This puts even more emphasis on retail owners and budtenders to sell within the confines of the law. It’s illegal to take Washington cannabis outside of Washington, so if a customer does, it’s on them, there’s nothing you can do about it. But if you sell that customer more than the legal limit, and they get busted out of state, that’s on the budtender that sold the product as well. Oregon and Idaho have reported more cannabis being confiscated during traffic stops involving cars coming from Washington, The News Tribune reports. We want to set a good example for our state representatives who stand up for voters rights and other states looking to follow our lead and legalize cannabis themselves. We have politicians who stand up for cannabis in our state. Jay Inslee and Bob Ferguson have gone out on limbs to defend cannabis rights against the federal government.

These laws keep customers who are uneducated about cannabis laws from getting in trouble. Many customers trust and expect budtenders to know what the law is. If a budtender takes advantage of a customer to make the business more money or hustle a bigger tip, and that customer gets pulled over by the police, they could be in trouble just because they trusted the wrong budtender. This makes it important for business owners to take hiring practices seriously and trust employees before you leave them on the floor unattended.

The obvious reason for everyone to follow cannabis laws to the letter is to keep Attorney General (AG) Jeff Sessions’ watchful eyes out of our state. If you don’t think he wasn’t paying attention to what happened to Sweet Leaf in Colorado, you’re out of your mind. Justin Costello, hedge fund manager and CEO of Pacific Merchant Processing told me something once that is hyper-relevant here, and it’s if you think your enemies are stupid, you’re stupid. Sweet Leaf seemingly thought the Denver Police department was stupid and it cost them their livelihood. If Washington budtenders and business owners think the WSLCB isn’t paying more attention to the industry’s adherence to state laws after the Sweet Leaf situation, you’re stupid.

Last week, WSLCB agents raided a cannabis farmers market in Tacoma. The Patient Cannabis Exchange (PWE.) Cannabis medical card holders were exchanging cannabis with their caretakers. Caretakers are other medical card holders that are granted permission to grow weed strictly for themselves and other patients. Agents arrested people that had outstanding warrants and confiscated all product and money. The owner of the PWE said there was nothing illegal happening and no cease and desist order was served before the raid occurred. Maybe the PWE was breaking the law, but some believe this was the WSLCB flexing their authority to crack down on untaxed cannabis transactions, Komo News reports.

It’s unfortunate the PWE was raided, but recreational employees should heed this as a warning. If the WSLCB is willing to raid a small medical farmers market that may or may not have been breaking the law, why would they hesitate to raid a recreational dispensary for actually breaking state law?

Cannabis is still a schedule I drug under the Controlled Substance Act and illegal on the federal level. Federal cannabis protections no longer exist since the Cole Memo was rescinded. Federal prosecutors have permission from AG Jeff Session himself to go after state cannabis operations that aren’t in accordance with federal law. Smoking cannabis in our state isn’t a right, it’s a privilege. A privilege that can be seriously tested if Washington’s cannabis industry isn’t careful. I for one don’t want to buy weed at some random guys house anymore, so let’s keep it straight

GreenRush Cannabis is a WA i502 producer-processor located in the scenic Snohomish Valley. We produce a clean, sophisticated crop that has become a preferred brand for a number of top shops in Washington state known for our consistent terpene flavor, high quality, and deep impact.